


A Little Left Of Honest Livin’

by angelskuuipo



Category: Angel: the Series, Leverage
Genre: Challenge Response, Crossover, Early Work, GFY, Gen, Songfic, post season 2 for Angel, pre-series for Leverage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 11:59:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1778242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelskuuipo/pseuds/angelskuuipo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliot has to retrieve an item from the Host and gets a glimpse into the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Left Of Honest Livin’

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Karaoke Challenge at [Twisting the Hellmouth](http://www.tthfanfic.org/), and as a tribute to the late Andy Hallett who played Lorne. He was taken from us way too young and my heart goes out to his friends and family. He’ll be greatly missed.
> 
> The song used is [How I’m Livin’ Now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ykl3YPUjn8) by Christian Kane. Thanks be to Elisabeth for the beta.
> 
> Originally posted 4-9-09.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eliot Spencer looked at the garishly bright neon green sign. _Caritas_. This was the right place, but he’d be damned if he knew why so many people had dressed up as monsters. He entered the club warily, unsure of what he was going to find inside.

The interior wasn’t any less strange. A karaoke bar where people dressed in monster costumes? He was beginning to regret taking this job. He winced as the person on stage failed to hit the note…she? Eliot looked closer at the creature on stage and honestly couldn’t tell if it was male or female. Whichever it was, they sure couldn’t sing a lick.

“Oh my stars and garters. Lindsey, sugar, it’s been a long time,” a green-skinned, red-eyed demon-looking guy wearing the most hideous purple suit, said as he glided up and pulled Eliot into an enthusiastic hug. Eliot tensed, ready to do some serious damage, but the guy pulled back and looked at him with a frown. “You’re not Lindsey,” he stated.

Eliot shook his head. “Nope, you’ve got the wrong guy. Name’s Eliot.”

The guy straightened up and took on a professional air. He held out his hand, which Eliot gingerly took, and introduced himself. “Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, but you can call me Lorne. I’m the owner and Host of this fine establishment. I’ve got your package all ready to go, but I need you to do one tiny little thing for me before I give it to you, Sugarplum.”

Eliot scowled. “And what would that be?”

“Sing for me, and it’s all yours.”

Eliot blinked. “You want me to get up in front of all these freaks and sing? Are you nuts?”

Lorne looked at him with wide eyes. “You really don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” Eliot fairly growled. This was supposed to be an easy in and out job. He wasn’t getting paid enough.

“Honey, this is a Demon bar, _the_ Demon bar in L.A. These aren’t simple humans in costume, they’re actual demons.”

Eliot was about to roll his eyes and give this jackass a piece of his mind- and maybe his fist- when he caught sight of a guy standing near the bar. One second he looked human and the next his face just… _shifted_ into something else. He scanned the club again- seeing it with new eyes- and noticed tentacles, pincers, and other assorted things that were way too weird not to be real.

“Son of a bitch,” he breathed.

Lorne laughed and clapped a hand on Eliot’s shoulder and led him to the bar. He had Rodrigo pour a double of his best whiskey and handed it to the dumbfounded man. Eliot tossed it back without a thought, coughed once, and smiled weakly in thanks. Rodrigo poured him another and Eliot took his time with that one.

“Anything in particular you want me to sing?” Eliot asked once he got his feet under him again.

“Whatever floats your boat, pumpkin,” Lorne said breezily. “You can pick anything out of the catalog, or I’ve got an old guitar you can use if you want.”

Eliot looked at him sharply. “What makes you think I can play? And why do you keep calling me food names?”

Lorne just chuckled. “That’s just my way, I guess. As to the other, I see things. They become clearer when someone sings for me and I can tell your future.”

“Uh huh,” Eliot grunted as he took a sip of the whiskey. It really was good quality. The ma- er- demon beside him might be bug-nut-crazy, but he knew how to stock good liquor. “Whatever, let’s just get this over with so I can get out of here and finish this asinine job. I’ll take the guitar.”

Lorne waved at Rodrigo and Eliot was soon holding a beat up acoustic in his hands. Lorne told him he’d work him in as soon as he could and left Eliot to fiddle with the guitar.

He hadn’t had time to play much recently, so this felt like greeting an old friend, even if the instrument wasn’t his. He didn’t even notice that almost an hour had passed before Lorne called his name. Eliot made his way to the stage, trying his best to ignore his audience. He thought for a moment, closed his eyes and started to play, then sing:

_I spend my life_

A little left of honest livin'  
I hope God will be forgivin'  
When I'm done  
Take a little more time  
And give it to the friends I'm missing  
And lend a little more ear and listen to everyone  
Oh, I'm set on changin' my ways

I'll make sure  
I make the best of what's yet to come  
Laugh a little bit more while I'm still young  
Yeah, yeah  
Put a smile back in style  
I'll make sure  
I make my daddy proud enough  
Go all in and get lucky in love  
Yeah, yeah  
Oh, that's how I'm living now

Well I still get it on  
A little more than I probably should  
But I never claimed to be too good to do a little wrong  
Come mornin' light  
I hit the ground get up and go  
And it feels so good for me to know  
I'm where I belong  
Right here  
Yeah today

I'll make sure  
I make the best of what's yet to come  
Laugh a little bit more while I'm still young  
Yeah, yeah  
Put a smile back in style  
I'll make sure  
I make my daddy proud enough  
Go all in and get lucky in love  
Yeah, yeah  
That's how I'm living now

I'll make sure  
I make the best of what's yet to come  
Laugh a little bit more while I'm still young  
Yeah, yeah  
Put a smile back in style  
I'll make sure  
I make my daddy proud enough  
Go all in and get lucky in love  
Yeah, yeah

I'll make sure  
I make the best of what's yet to come  
Laugh a little bit more while I'm still young  
Yeah, yeah  
Put a smile back in style  
I'll make sure  
I make my daddy proud enough  
Go all in and get lucky in love  
Yeah, yeah  
That's how I'm living now  
That's how I'm living right now

Eliot was surprised at the applause he got, but just gave a little half-smile as he stepped down from the stage and moved to where Lorne was waiting near a booth at the back. Eliot handed Lorne the guitar and sat down, not really expecting much, but willing to humour the guy so he could get what he came for and get the hell out.

“You even sound like him,” Lorne said quietly.

Eliot raised an eyebrow. “Like this Lindsey guy? He a friend of yours?”

“Not exactly. Just someone with a lot of talent and a lot of issues who used to come in a while back. He’s been gone for a while.” Lorne smiled wryly. It looked a little creepy with the red on green colour scheme of his face, but Eliot took the look for what it was. Lorne gave himself a little shake and focused on Eliot. “Enough about the past, let’s talk about your future. You’ve got some changes coming, my friend. The lone wolf is going to get himself a pack.”

Eliot frowned. “I work alone. Always.”

Lorne patted his hand where it lay on the table. “Not for much longer, sweetie pie. The White Knight is going to become the Black King and you’ll be there to see it happen and be a part of it.” He frowned a little, but continued, “Be careful of the wannabe Queen. She’s got an agenda of her own.” He smiled at Eliot again. “It won’t always be easy, but it will be worth it.”

Eliot had no idea what to say. He didn’t believe in this crap, but Lorne seemed very sincere, and despite the weirdness of the entire evening, Eliot kind of liked him. He settled for mumbling, “Uh, thanks.”

Lorne shook his head with a little laugh then reached down beside him and brought up a plainly wrapped box. “Here you go, Sugarplum. Give my regards to your employer. I hope he enjoys them, though why anyone would actually want some Frgshjnk is beyond me.”

Eliot looked at him with raised eyebrows again. “Do I even want to try and guess what you just said?”

“No, honey, I think it’s best that you don’t.” Lorne stood up and Eliot followed suit. They shook hands again and Lorne led him towards the exit. “You come back anytime, Eliot. You’ll always be welcome at Caritas.”

Eliot smiled at the demon. “Sure. Thanks.” As he walked out, Eliot tried to put the weirdness out of his mind. Little did he know just how true Lorne’s predictions were going to be, or how soon they were going to come to pass.

He might have been a little more prepared.

-30-


End file.
